Rùn 潤 at St. Regis Hong Kong (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

A few months ago, when Jelloman and I were having lunch at L'Envol, we were already trying to think of an excuse to visit Rùn (潤), the upscale Chinese restaurant at the new St Regis Hotel. A few months have passed us by and finally, we managed to find one with the birthday of Jelloman's dad coming up.



Rùn's kitchen is helmed by chef Hung Chi-Kwong, formerly of Cuisine Cuisine at The Mira and Man Wah so I am expecting exquisite Cantonese cuisine with a few modern twists here and there.



A cup of chilled Oolong tea kicked off our meal in style.



While the caramelized walnuts from Spring Moon always get my appetite going, these fried cashews with seaweed powder also seemed to have the same positive effect.



Steamed shrimp dumpling, morel mushroom (三色羊肚菌鮮蝦餃) ($98) - Decided to order this in favor of the traditional shrimp dumplings.



This was really delicate with a very thin wrapper.



Steamed mushroom dumpling, Arizaema Tubes fungus (黑虎掌雜菌素餃) ($88) - I was drawn to this mainly due to the name that said Arizaema Tubes fungus (黑虎掌雜菌). What in the world.....(black tiger palms).....



Turned out it tasted more or less the same as a typical assorted mushroom dumpling. The wrapper was again very nice working well with the sauteed mushrooms.



Steamed sea cucumber dumpling, white bitter melon and mushrooms (苦口婆參餃) ($88) - Another dim sum that caught my attention with its rather interesting name. I guess we just don't get to see a dumpling with both sea cucumber and bitter melon together very often.

This was a pretty interesting match with the bitterness from the white bitter melon up against the sweetness of the sea cucumber. Not bad.



Steamed pork and shrimp dumpling, matsutake mushrooms (松茸燒賣) ($88) - The siu mai made with minced pork and shrimp was really tender and delicate to the palate. Love the fragrance from the matsutake mushrooms.



Steamed minced beef ball, bean curd sheet (石榴牛肉球) ($88) - Interesting idea wrapping the minced beef ball with bean curd sheets. My little nugget absolutely loves these.



Steamed rice roll, barbecued Iberico pork (西班牙黑豚肉叉燒腸粉) ($148) - The steamed rice rolls were nicely done but for the price they were charging, I expected more from the barbecued pork made with premium Iberico pork from Spain.



Deep-fried glutinous rice dumpling, chicken, pork and dried shrimp (香梨咸水角) ($88) - One of my favorite dim sum this afternoon.



This was a beautifully designed dish that was executed with pin-point precision. Inside the pear-shaped dumpling made with glutinous rice were minced chicken, pork and dried shrimp packed together with a deliciously intense sauce. It was finished off with a beautiful crust with some nice chewy texture.



Baked roasted goose puff, taro, mushroom (香芋白菌燒鵝酥) ($88) - Probably my second favorite dish of the afternoon.



The crispy taro puff came with an absolutely lovely crust.



Inside the very small package came bits and pieces of delicately roasted goose and mushrooms, with a wonderfully rich goose gravy tying everything together brilliantly.



Baked barbecued crispy pork bun (雪影焗叉燒包) ($88) - A dim sum lunch is not complete without some crispy barbecued pork buns I was told.



The buns were very pillowy. Too bad the barbecued pork wasn't top notch.



Fried vermicelli, crab meat, shredded pork, egg (肉絲桂花蟹肉炒米粉) ($288) - Just one noodle dish to share among the four of us and it was a good one with surprisingly nice "wok hei" (high heat from the wok). The fried vermicelli was nice and dry, though I thought there could've been a little more crab meat in there for some of us (I certainly didn't have any).



Traditional black sesame roll (懷舊芝麻卷) ($88) - I didn't know we have complimentary petite fours so I went out and ordered a couple of desserts for us.



The traditional black sesame roll wasn't exactly traditional thanks to the coconut filling in the middle.



Chilled milk pudding, bird’s nest (燕液小白兔奶凍) ($88) - A cute little rabbit dessert for my little one.



So adorable that he actually had trouble deciding whether eat or keep it.



If our server could kindly let me know that there were petite fours waiting to be served, I might have held off on ordering the two desserts but too late. These were served right after our "real" desserts. First up, some green tea and coconut milk pudding.



And then some miniature pastries that tasted a lot like the traditional sweetheart cake (老婆餅).



I was hoping they could blow me away with some of their modern dim sum but unfortunately, like our experience at L'Envol, it was very good but nothing superb that would bring us back anytime soon. At this level, they are expected to be not just good but great.

Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 2/F, The St. Regis Hong Kong, 1 Harbour Drive, Wanchai , Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Wanchai
Tel: +852 2138-6808
Website: www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/hkgxr-the-st-regis-hong-kong
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm daily